“Get out of my tree,” Dagdron said, resuming his dagger throw and catch.
Elloriana ignored him and lifted her hands to practice spells.
Dagdron caught his dagger and was about to cross the tree to push her out when Earl and Lita appeared down below.
“You let Elloriana in your tree again?” Earl said.
“No,” Dagdron said.
“That’s it, Dagdron. We’re coming up too,” Earl said.
Before Dagdron had time to block their path, Lita helped hoist Earl up into the tree. Dagdron planned on pushing Earl before he could catch his balance, but then Lita charged, placing her foot against the truck and jumping to grab the lowest branch. As she crowded into the tree along with Earl, Dagdron was forced to move backward.
“I’ve never noticed how cozy it is up here before,” Earl said, smiling as he looked around at the cold, gnarled branches of the quest tree.
“Get out,” Dagdron said. He jabbed his dagger toward Earl but wasn’t quite within reach to stab him.
“I know what you mean,” Elloriana said. “We should’ve been coming up here when the leaves were still on the branches. I’m finally seeing why Dagdron likes it up here so much.”
Elloriana chuckled and would have been attacked by Dagdron, except Earl blocked him as he searched for a seat.
“This is the perfect opportunity to finally discuss what we’re going to do about Mercer,” Earl said.
“Get out of my tree and go take care of it right now,” Dagdron said.
“We’re not going to do anything about it,” Elloriana said. “Just forget about it.”
“Princess, I respect your opinion, but Mercer’s correspondence course for unfulfilled adventurers is a disgrace to the Adventurers’ Academy. You and Dagdron can’t keep ignoring me every time I bring it up.”
“Yes, we can,” Dagdron said.
Earl shook the tree as he moved to pull Dagdron’s hood from his head, except a magenta light flashed behind the quest tree and distracted him before he could.
“It’s Wendahl,” Lita said.
Dagdron kept his dagger brandished, stabbing it at Earl, Elloriana, and Lita as they climbed down the tree. Only once the other three were down did Dagdron vacate his hideout.
Wendahl smiled as the four young adventurers approached the fence of the academy.
“Now that we’ve all gotten over the somewhat anticlimactic Winter Carnival, we need to get back to net making,” Wendahl said. Dagdron, still upset at his companions for trespassing, stepped forward and stuck the point of his dagger through the fence. “We need silk string for the body of the net. Now that Gwydion knows I’m in town, it’s probably best for you to go alone, but I know where you might find some. You should go this weekend before the snow gets too deep.”
“We’ll have to go in the morning or late at night,” Elloriana said. “I have social time with Grady on the weekends.”
“I think you’ll definitely want to go when it’s light,” Wendahl said. “A silk-string spider should be hibernating by now, but you never know.”
“A silk-string spider!” Earl said excitedly, turning toward Lita, who was patting her sword.
“You don’t need to kill it,” Wendahl said. “They mind their own business and their webs have all sorts of useful properties.”
“We weren’t planning on killing it,” Earl quickly explained. “But it will still be a physical challenge that two fighters will love.”
With everything settled, Dagdron headed back to his tree before Earl could lecture them on spiders. He kept his dagger at the ready as he climbed just in case one of the others decided to intrude again.
“How many caves are there around Bodaburg?” Elloriana asked Saturday morning.
Wendahl had given them directions to a cave northeast from the academy. They had left at dawn and spent the morning traversing the snowy mountainside. They were now standing on a ledge, looking down at the entrance of the cave. Earl angled the torch in hopes of shedding light toward the opening, but it didn’t help at all.
“Remember what Mazannanan said?” Earl replied, tilting the torch back to vertical position before the flame burned him. “He and his group stayed up north because of the abundance of magic in the area. Caves are a big part of that because creatures, plants, and other objects can thrive in the darkness, where they’re less likely to be disturbed.”
Dagdron grabbed the torch from Earl and scurried down to the entrance.
“Do you see anything?” Elloriana called down.
“No,” Dagdron replied. “It’s dark.”
“Your rogue eyes can usually see in the dark,” Elloriana said.
Dagdron ignored her and looked at Earl.
“Are you coming down?” the rogue asked. “We left footprints in the snow, so the Backer will be able to track us.”
“We’re coming,” Earl said. He climbed down, though he slipped near the bottom, tumbling to the ground. Lita climbed partway down before jumping the rest of the way, landing with a grunt. Elloriana cast a levitation spell to lower herself.
Dagdron took the lead, walking into the cave on the mildly downward slope.
“You really love caves, don’t you?” Earl said to Dagdron as they crept along.
“Why does he love caves?” Elloriana asked.
“Dagdron, I think it’s time we told Elloriana and Lita,” Earl said.
“Don’t say another word,” Dagdron said, glaring at Earl in the dim torchlight.
“What?” Elloriana said. “Tell us, Earl.”
“No,” Earl said. “I thought Dagdron was ready, but he obviously isn’t. I can’t break the honor of my trust. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“I deserve to know information about him,” Elloriana persisted. “That can be payment for the coins and jewels he’s stolen from me and my family.”
“I didn’t steal your jewelry,” Dagdron said, but then he picked up the pace, forcing the others to give up the conversation and walk faster unless they wanted to be left in the darkness.
“Whoa,” Earl said with his mouth wide open when the tunnel leveled out.
They came to the edge of a humongous pit, although they couldn’t see how deep it might be because a gigantic spider’s web had been woven across it. A narrow ledge, barely wide enough for a single person to keep both feet on, circled the pit.
Dagdron pushed the torch toward Earl, who bobbled it as he took it. The rogue knelt, grabbed the closest web strand with one hand, and severed it with his dagger. The web felt soft and silky but was thick and clung to Dagdron’s hands. He peeled it away before flinging it to the ground.
“How much did Wendahl say we need?” Dagdron asked.
“A lot,” Earl answered. “It has to be enough so the net’s big enough to hold Avooblis.”
“Then start slicing.” Dagdron crouched again to cut another section of the silky web.
Earl wedged the torch in a fissure in the wall, and then he and Lita began lopping off strands of the spider’s web, adding them to the pile. Elloriana, fearing she might ignite a large section of the web if she cast a flame spell, bent down and burned the end of a strand and yanked on it, trying to tear it free.
Once they had cleared out the section in easy reach, Dagdron scooted along the thin ledge where he knew the others couldn’t balance. He cut off a few sections of the web before carrying them back to the mound of silky strands they were creating.
Once Dagdron was crouching on the narrow ledge again, he watched as Elloriana still struggled to tug the web back from the pit. The enchantress finally stood up to have more leverage, but as she did so, a small spider that had descended in the darkness landed on her head. Elloriana screamed as she released the strand, brushing her hands fearfully through her hair. Then she made the mistake of looking up. Hundreds of little spiders were lowering themselves from the ceiling. She continued madly waving her hands over her head as she moved to avoid the parachuting spiders and accidently stepped too close
to the edge and fell. She rolled across the snare, tangling herself in the soft but sticky strands.
“Elloriana!” Earl and Lita yelled.
The warrior and lady warrior tossed their latest web strands onto the pile and then rushed to the edge, judging possible courses of action. The tiny spiders were still cascading down, so Earl and Lita slashed their swords above their heads as they watched Elloriana still writhing around in the web.
“We’ll have to jump,” Lita said. “There’s no other way.”
Earl nodded, and he and Lita backed up to get a running start. Dagdron watched from the ledge as Earl and Lita raced forward, leaping from the edge with their swords still drawn. They both hacked at the web around Elloriana. While they didn’t manage to free the enchantress, their combined weight collapsed the netting. Elloriana screamed as she fell in her web cocoon, but Earl and Lita held fast to a strand and swung to the ground.
Dagdron had remained on the ledge to watch the rash actions of Earl and Lita, but now he slid sideways to retrieve the torch as he heard his three companions yelling below. He waved the torch above his head to singe the spiders that were dropping. He positioned the light to see into the pit but was met with nothing but darkness. Not understanding why he couldn’t see his three companions, he flicked the torch around. Only when he saw a large limb move did he realize that he wasn’t looking at the darkness of the pit. The web had been a safety covering for the enormous silk-string spider, which was hibernating in the hole.
“Help us, Dagdron!”
Dagdron heard Earl’s cry, but then all sound was muffled.
Why do I keep getting into these situations? Dagdron thought as knelt and groped the wall of the pit. Finding it too sheer to scale, Dagdron moved to the closet strand of web that was still connected. Holding the torch so it wouldn’t burn the web, he grabbed the strand with both hands and severed it from the wall. The torch blew out as he swung downward, so he couldn’t see as he flew down into the dark pit, but he still easily located the spider as he rammed into one of its giant, hairy legs.
Dagdron’s legs were jolted, but he slid to the ground and ran underneath the spider, hoping to assess the situation. The spider appeared to have given no notice to the crash, because it was occupied spinning Earl and Lita in a cocoon similar to the one Elloriana had tangled herself in.
Dagdron sprinted to the other side of the pit, slashing his dagger against the wall to create sparks. He held the torch out until a spattering of embers reignited the flame. Blazing torch in hand, Dagdron raced in front of the humongous spider, waving the flames at the monstrosity. The spider let out an ugly screech as its many eyes were blinded by the sudden light. Dagdron hurried forward and cut through the thread coming from the spider. He then dropped to the ground, slicing this way and that to cut holes for Elloriana, Earl, and Lita’s heads, arms, and legs.
“Just cut us out completely,” Elloriana said, scowling.
“No,” Dagdron said. “You guys like to be cozy like in my tree, so you can stay in there. And we need the web anyway. Come on.”
The spider was still reeling from the bright light, so Dagdron led his cocooned companions across the pit, carefully avoiding the long arachnid legs. When they reached the wall of the pit, Elloriana cast a levitation spell, lifting herself to freedom. The tiny spiders that had floated down were scurrying everywhere, but Elloriana gritted her teeth and grabbed a long strand of web from the pile they had made. She tossed it over the edge, willing herself to ignore the spiders that were starting to crawl over her feet.
Dagdron climbed up the web first, then helped Elloriana hold the rope to support the weight as Earl and Lita followed. The giant spider had recovered by then and lashed its legs upward, but Elloriana cast a flame spell, scaring the spider just long enough for the two fighters to escape the pit. Elloriana stomped her feet, crushing as many spiders as she could as Earl and Lita struggled to free their swords that had been wrapped up in their web coating.
“Let’s go,” Dagdron said, filling his arms with the pile of silk string.
The monstrous hairy legs hit the top of the pit again, so Elloriana, Lita, and Earl followed Dagdron as he led them up the slope of the tunnel. When they reached the light shining down from the outside, Dagdron dropped his load and pulled out his dagger. He sliced the others completely free, then picked up his pile and scaled the wall.
Elloriana levitated with her web strands, and Earl and Lita climbed out with some effort. Earl took in a deep breath of wintry air and gasped before rushing to embrace Dagdron.
“You saved our lives,” Earl said.
“Let go of me,” Dagdron said, poking Earl with his dagger.
“I don’t know how you did it,” Earl said, ignoring the blade in his side.
Lita approached next and gave Dagdron a quick yet bone-crushing hug. Elloriana walked up a little more slowly but gave Dagdron quick hug before backing away.
“You guys are gross,” Dagdron said. “Stop touching me.”
“You saved our lives,” Earl repeated. “That spider would’ve devoured us.”
“What spider?” a voice said.
Dagdron, Earl, Elloriana, and Lita turned as Byron, Landon, and Gordon appeared from behind a rock to the side of the cave.
“What were you really doing down there?” Byron asked. “What is that stuff?”
“Get out of here,” Elloriana said. “I had to gather spider silk for a magic class project. If you don’t believe us, then go see for yourself. There’s a huge silk-string spider down there.”
Elloriana motioned for others to follow her and they headed off. After a minute, Elloriana stopped the group and turned around. Byron, Landon, and Gordon were climbing down into the cave. When the top of Gordon’s head disappeared, Elloriana sprinted back and cast a blast-bolt spell above the cave, causing the snow to avalanche into the hole.
“Let’s go,” Elloriana said, taking the lead again.
“Are they going to be able to get out?” Earl said.
“They might be wet and cold digging through the snow, but if they’re planning on graduating as adventurers, they should at least be able to climb out of a snowy cave.”
“I agree, but—” Earl said until Elloriana cut him off.
“Earl, stop talking,” Elloriana said. “We can’t let Byron follow us without consequences or he’ll keep doing it. And the only thing I’m worried about right now is if this is enough silky web for Wendahl to make that net. And it better be, because I’m going to kill him if it’s not.”
Earl didn’t respond as he eyed the princess warily.
Dagdron watched Elloriana as she picked up the pace, stomping through the snow. She sure was bossy, Dagdron thought, but, for once, he completely agreed with her. If Wendahl couldn’t make the magical net with the strands they had gathered, the old enchanter was going to get sliced.
Chapter 20: Netted Suspicions
Wendahl was more than delighted with the amount of silk-string web they had recovered. He had them pile it at the back of the cave, where he could start stringing the net properly together with magic.
Byron, Landon, and Gordon made it back to the academy by dinnertime. Landon and Gordon had red, numb skin when they walked into the dining hall. Byron looked warm enough, but his facial expression held the same fear that Landon and Gordon had frozen on their faces. Dagdron and Earl glanced over when they heard laughter coming from the third-year girls’ table. Elloriana and Lita were giggling as they watched Byron, Landon, and Gordon beg Chef Barig to bring them a large bowl of hot soup to go with the roast beast that was on the serving table.
“At least they must know the spider’s real,” Earl said to Dagdron while they ate. “Maybe they’ll really think we’re helping Elloriana with a project.”
“Too bad it didn’t eat them,” Dagdron said.
Earl chuckled and gnawed off another piece of roast beast.
For the rest of December, they focused on their schoolwork, visiting the cave a few nights a
week. They had to spend some time around the fire with Dugan and Egon before slipping to the back of the cave, where Wendahl was little by little weaving the net.
Wendahl still hadn’t finished the net by the time the beginning-of-the-year party rolled around. Dagdron planned on skipping the party because most of the attendees were richies from Bodaburg, who didn’t bring money with them since they were just coming to the academy from the village. But Earl wouldn’t hear of it.
“Dagdron, we have to go,” Earl said. “This is the last beginning-of-the-year party we’ll ever have at the academy.”
“Who cares?” Dagdron responded. “It’s nothing compared to the Winter Carnival.”
“It’s not meant to be compared. Enchantress Higgins always does an amazing job decorating the dining hall with bright colors, and it raises everyone’s spirits during the winter doldrums.”
Dagdron ran his finger along the blade of his dagger as Earl finished getting ready, making sure his warrior attire was clean and perfect. They walked down the boys’ tower to the entrance hall, where they saw Elloriana hovering at the front doors.
“What’s she doing?” Earl asked.
Earl received his answer a few seconds later when Grady Solloughby walked through the doorway. He smiled at Elloriana but then proceeded to twist and tilt his head as he gazed all around the entrance hall in awe. Elloriana rolled her eyes, and then her face dropped as soon as she saw that Dagdron and Earl were watching.
Elloriana motioned to Grady to start across the chamber, so he linked his arm with Elloriana’s, leading her in a slow procession, making a rest stop to examine the statues of the enchanter, warrior, and rogue up close. Elloriana finally took control of the situation, taking long strides that pulled Grady along after her.
“Don’t say anything,” Elloriana mouthed with a scowl to Dagdron and Earl.
“This party might be better than I thought,” Dagdron said as they followed the couple into the eating hall. Earl pulled his hood off as they went.
“Like I said before, you might as well enjoy it,” Earl said. “It’s our last one, and after this, we’re going to have to practice our adventuring skills even more. Our third year is more than half over.”
The Howl of Avooblis Page 18
